Bad News For Impatient Trump: Russia Investigation Will Last At Least Another Year

In order to help keep him calm and prevent him from doing something counterproductive like firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Donald Trump’s attorneys have been assuring him for months that the Russia investigation will be over with soon, probably by no later than early 2018.

But according to a new report from The Washington Post, the Russia probe is far from finished:

“People with knowledge of the investigation said it could last at least another year — pointing to ongoing cooperation from witnesses such as former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, as well as a possible trial of two former Trump campaign officials. The special counsel’s office has continued to request new documents related to the campaign, and members of Mueller’s team have told others they expect to be working through much of 2018, at a minimum.”

Trump’s legal team will be meeting with Mueller and his investigators this week in part to gauge just how far along the investigation is at this point. A source with knowledge of the White House’s upcoming sit-down with Mueller commented:

“You’ve had all these witnesses, all these records. Is there anything else you need from the White House?”

The president, at least publicly, has told people he’s confident he will be exonerated:

“Trump himself has expressed frustration with the probe but has shown optimism that it will not touch him. He told associates recently that he harbors no deep concern over the investigation and noted that his lawyers talk with Mueller’s team regularly, according to a person who spoke with Trump last week and spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.

When pressed by two advisers to take the matter more seriously and asked why he is so confident in his lawyers, Trump brushed off the concerns. ‘He is living in his own world,’ the person said, predicting that Trump would erupt at some point in 2018 if the probe continued to drag on.”

If Trump does jump the gun and decide to try and fire Mueller, it could well speed up what some in Congress and many in the country have already begun calling for: Immediate impeachment.